Rocky Mountains. 5 



but which to us appear . more properly to belong to the 

 genus Triton.* 



* Triton lateralis. Say. 

 Body and extremity above brown, with irregular black spots; tail much 

 compressed, subacutely edged above and beneath, lanceolate; a black 

 vitta from the nostrils passes through the eyes, and i9 dilated on the sides 

 and becomes obsolete on the tail; a vertebral indented line, from the neck 

 to the origin of the caudal carina, more faintly indented on the head; head 

 somewhat rectilinearly attenuated from the anterior branchia, to the vici- 

 nity of the nostril, and truncate or subemarginate before; nostrils minute; 

 eyes very small, whitish, crossed with the lateral line of the bead; beneath 

 pale flesh colour; chin and jaws to the branchia, and tail from the poste- 

 rior feet, with the exception of the areola of the anus, coloured like the 

 back; mouth moderate, angles beneath the eyes; lips covering the jaws 

 freely, inferior lip with a duplicative each side, which is white and cover- 

 ed by the superior lip; tongue free, fleshy, rounded, extending beyond the 

 angles of the mouth; teeth, lower jaw in a single row, obtusely conic, 

 small, rather distant; a few smaller ones near the angle, elevated on a 

 slightly prominent portion of the jaw; superior jaw with a double series of 

 teeth similar to the others, but rather smaller, an unarmed depression cor- 

 responding with the elevation* in the lower jaw, and a few elevated teeth 

 nearer the angle; throat with a duplicated cuticle; branchiae permanent. 

 Legs short, weak, four toed. 



Total length 10 inches; from the tip of the nose to the vent, 6 1-2 in- 

 ches. 



We caught this animal with the hook and line in the neighbourhood of 

 Pittsburgh, but it is by no means so common there as the Salamandra Al-» 

 leghaniensis of Michaux, or young alligator. 



The colour above is in reality pale, but it is rendered of a browr.ish ap- 

 pearance by the very numerous confluent points of that colour, which near- 

 ly cover the surface of the body; branchia bright red; peduncles colour of 

 the body. Daudin informs us, that Schneider, in his history of Amphibia, 

 describes an animal very similar to this, found in Lake Champlain, and 

 which Daudin supposes to be the larva of Triton Alleghaniensis; Daudin 

 however, is of the opinion, that the hind feet were mutilated, from the cir- 

 cumstance of their having only four toes. 



The late Professor B. S. Barton had heard of this animal, and from the 

 account he received, was led to regard it as a Siren. 



Finally, Dr. Mitchell has antoptically described the animal, in the 4th 

 Vol. of Silliman's Journal, as a Proteus. 



Not supposing the lateralis to belong, strictly speaking, to either of these 

 genera, and with a view to ascertain its real nature, we obtained permis- 

 sion from the Academy of Natural Science, to open a specimen belonging 

 to their cabinet, and which was brought from the Ohio by Mr. J. Speak- 

 man. The result corresponded with our most confident expectations, 

 showing that the number of its vertebrae is greatly inferior to that of 

 the Proteus, and corresponding with that of the Tritons; and that the 

 pseudo ribs were in an entire series, somewhat superior in proportional 

 length and perfection of form to those of the Proteus, and resembling 

 those of the Triton. It has therefore, a far more close alliance with the 

 genus Triton, than with any other yet established. 

 Several animals have been described, to which it is more closely relat- 



